By Genevieve Northey
On Wednesday, 16th November, the Women and Gender Caucus held the second Indigenous Womens’ Day at COP22. All seven regions of the world was represented in the room, with a panel discussion taking place with women from the Arctic, Pacific, Latin America Africa and Asia speaking on their own experiences from the home region.
Although from different and diverse regions of the world, the themes had the common thread of protecting their environment and culture to preserve their way life. The speakers also reiterated the importance of Indigenous women having a space in which to participate in a meaningful way with their governments and in high-level discussions, like those taking place at COP22, on the issue of climate change.
Indigenous women are proud to be part of the solution for Climate Change, through their traditional knowledge and infinity with the environment, which has been passed down through the generations.
The group called on more capacity building funds for indigenous women, so they may participate fully in the high-level meetings and negotiations with the required technical skills. They also called on the need to involve more young indigenous women to come forward and join the constituency to be present to carry the torch forward into the future.
